How many times have you opened a new Word document ready to start writing only to end up staring at a blank screen for hours on end?

Starting a piece of copywriting is always the hardest bit. What sort of opening should you go for? What direction should it take?

Even if you get off to a flying start and come up with a cracking headline, producing anything else that does it justice can be difficult.

The best way to start is to plan what you want to write. Think back to your school days and the three elements of story telling that your English teacher constantly banged on about.

Remember what they are?

• The beginning
• The middle
• The end

Writing sales copy follows exactly the same process.

Tie in your copy with your headline

The best headlines will include the primary benefit of your product or service. If you manage that, get the same benefit into your copy straight away:

Headline: Miracle Glow removes all stains first time – guaranteed!

Copy: Fed up with washing clothes again and again because of stubborn stains? Well now’s the time to take action…

Get the idea?

The beginning

Your copy should start with a problem that needs to be solved. As with the example above, the problem was having to rewash clothes because of stubborn stains. This indicated to your reader what you are talking about and the purpose of your writing.

But it doesn’t always have to be a problem. The flip side is if your product or service is going to give pleasure (e.g. make them wealthier or more attractive), start with that benefit.

The middle

Your headline and initial paragraph would have drawn your reader in. Now you need a section that will convince them to buy.

This is the time to introduce the product or service that will overcome the initial problem or provide the favourable outcome. Taking the washing powder example again, you could say something along the lines of:

Now you can remove all stains first time with Miracle Glow. Second washes and extra products will become a thing of the past. Just one product will give you ultra clean laundry every time.

The end

This is where your reader enters the story. Up to now you’ve told them the problem they have and how you can solve it for them. Now’s the time to ask them to do something.

This is your call to action and is one of the most important aspects of your writing. It has to be commanding – tell them precisely what you want them to do:

Get your free sample of Miracle Glow now by calling xxxxxxxxxx

Your reader is left with no doubt that they have to call you to try out this amazing new product.

So, as you can see, being a copywriter is a lot like being a story teller. By following this simple format you’ll draw your reader in. Your compelling copy will convince them your product is for them and your call to action will make sure they buy.

Why not give it a try next time you’re staring at a blank screen.

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Should a copywriter tell?

Let’s think about that for a second. A copywriter’s job is to sell products for their clients through the written word.

Instructions for a project will probably include phrases like ‘tell everyone about our product’, ‘tell them how amazing it is’. But telling is for journalists and teachers.

Copywriting is about giving so much more than that.

Sell, sell, sell

It doesn’t matter whether you are writing an advert, website copy, brochure or email, your writing should persuade your reader to do something. Generally that ‘something’ is to BUY.

Therefore your writing has to sell the product rather than just tell your reader all about it. To do this, your writing must cover three crucial elements:

1. Be benefits driven

‘What’s in it for me?’ – that’s the only thing your reader is going to want to know. It is the benefits that provide the motivation for your reader to buy.

2. Offer

The offer is important because if that isn’t attractive to your reader, they won’t buy. It could be anything from a ‘buy one get one free’ offer, to a limited price reduction, limited edition or bonus gift. Whatever it is, a well thought out offer will add weight to your sales message.

3. Be your customer

A mistake many companies make when writing their own copy is that they write what they think the customer wants to hear – invariably they are wrong. If you can identify the problem your customers are looking to solve, you can sell to them because you are offering them the perfect solution.

These three elements boil down the basics of sales writing. Understanding what your customer wants, identifying the benefits in your product that will give them what they are looking for and coming up with a killer offer will help you create copy that really sells.

So next time you sit down to write some sales copy, remember – benefits – offer – be your customer – make sure you sell to them rather than just tell them about your product.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

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After months of R & D you’re ready to launch a new product. You know your target market and you think you know what they want so you’re ready to start creating your marketing materials.

You are now sat in front of your PC. The screen is blank and your mind is blanker – HELP!

Does that sound familiar?

How do you start?

The best place to start is with your readers. So ask yourself what is it that they’re interest in. If you said your product, you’d be wrong. The answer is simple – they are only interested in themselves.

Get to know your reader

If you are going to sell something to someone, you have to get to know them. As a copywriter I spend a lot of time ‘inside the heads’ of the audience I am writing for.

Take a look back at some of the sales copy you’ve produced. If any on it spends time telling people what you are selling to them (in the first instance), you’re wasting your time. All your readers want to know is what it does for them. Basically tell them how your product will make their life easier, more rewarding and more complete – whichever is applicable to your product (and make sure it is genuine and can be proven).

So, how can you tap into your readers’ emotions? Well, you will need various keys to unlock their emotional desires:

Pride – Flattery will get you anywhere. Suggest that someone with as much talent for making the right decision as they have ought to be signing up for or buying your product.

Envy – If they think people are already benefiting from your product they’ll think they are missing out, and they’ll hate that.

Gluttony – We always want more, so if you can convince them they will feel contented when they ‘consume’ it you will be on to a winner.

Lust – Tricky, but if you convince them your product will satisfy their craving, they’ll snap your hand off.

Anger – The last time I was angry was over my mobile phone’s pathetic battery life. Give your readers a way out of their present frustrations and they’ll thank you.

Greed – A major motivator. Say no more.

Sloth – We’re all lazy so tell your reader how your product will save them time and effort and they’ll buy.

Being human, you reader will try and rationalise their buying decision. But all you have to do is give them enough reasons why your buying your product is the sensible option and they’ll hand over the cash.

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Remember this guy?

Our old English teachers may have taught us a lot at school, but for many the ghost of English lessons past has curbed their ability to write compelling and powerful copy.

Why?

Usually it’s because as soon as their writing starts to flow, a little voice mutters in their heads. It’s the voice of their old English teacher – “No slang! No sentence fragments! No Contractions! No colloquialisms!”

Well I’ve got news for you Mr English Teacher, these are all perfectly acceptable in the copywriting world.

Here are a few examples to illustrate:

Sentence fragments

Apparently all proper sentences should have a subject-verb-object construction. But in my opinion,  if they communicate complete thoughts, they are a perfectly acceptable tool for a writer.

“Get your copy of About the Home today. Full of tips and secrets. Why miss out? Buy yours today.”

Contractions and slang

Why can’t I use contractions? It’s perfectly acceptable in my book. As for slang – why not? If it helps communicate a particular message to your audience, go for it. Obviously, over doing it isn’t a great idea, but if you are writing to a particular market that readily uses slang, incorporating it within your copy will help you build rapport.

And…But

If you thought you couldn’t start a sentence with the conjunctions “and” or “but” – hogwash!!

I was interested to read in Fowler’s Modern English Usage that this particular prohibition had been ‘cheerfully ignored by standard authors from Anglo Saxon times onwards’ (Fowler’s Modern English Usage, Third Edition, p.52). Even Shakespeare used it in King John.

If it’s good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for me.

Talking of Shakespeare, he also paved the way for splitting the infinitive:

Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows

Thu pity may deserve to pitied be

(Sonnet 142)

And of course, another famous example will be known by all the Trekkies out there:

To boldly go where no man has gone before

(Sounds a lot better than “To go boldly where no man has gone before”)

Ending a sentence with a preposition

If you still believe this, you don’t have a leg to stand on. If you did, you’d have to write “I you still believe this, you don’t have a leg on which to stand” – I prefer my version!

It is perfectly OK to end on a preposition provided it’s not redundant – so you can ask “Where are you going?” but not “Where are you going to?”

At the end of the day, if your aim is to write great copy that will get your readers’ attention and sells products – write conversationally. This will immediately build rapport with your audience, gain their trust and their cash.

One last thing, ditch your Thesaurus – over use could mean leaving behind good, clear English in favour of gratuitously overblown hyperbole.

Simple is the copywriter’s friend.

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As a business owner, you know people aren’t going to buy from you just because you tell them how marvellous your product is. If they did there would be no need for freelance copywriters like myself (a very bad thing) even though it would make your life easier.

To get someone to come to that all important buying decision, you have to make them believe your product is the greatest thing since Concord. You have to persuade them that it will make their life easier, it will be more fulfilling and quite possibly it will make them richer (but only promise things you can deliver).

Great! That’s simple then.

No? OK, to give you a helping hand, here are a few things you can try to help them make the ‘right’ decision.

The main thing people want is something that will make them feel better about  themselves. Whether it’s the perception of others they are concerned about or their own lifestyles, what they need most is usually something intangible.

To illustrate that last point, here are 10 things people might want along with a way you could sell your product to meet their needs.

1. To get the approval of other people – tell them how their friends will admire them if they buy your product.
2. To associate with like-minded people – give free membership to a membership site if they buy.
3. If they’re environmentally conscious – donate a percentage of your profits to green causes.
4. They enjoy food – give away vouchers for restaurant meals if they buy your product.
5. If they’re looking for information – give away a free eBook when they buy.
6. They want to get rid of pain – guess what? Your product will take away their pain.
7. Looking for pleasure – your product will provide them with it.
8. No one likes to think they’re going to miss out on something – tell them the price is time limited and will soon be rising.
9. People want to be healthy – provide free taster sessions at a local gym if they buy.
10. If they want to be part of a select group – give away free membership to your associated club when they buy your product.

Using any one of these examples will help add persuasion to your writing. You’re dangling a carrot in front of them – they buy from you, you’ll give them something amazing.

All  you have to do is work out what your customers are looking for. If you can identify that and tailor  your sales copy accordingly, how can they possibly say no?

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If you think of a piece of copy, the main elements that you’ll immediately think of are the headline, body copy and call to action.

These are all very important aspects of any piece of copywriting, but they aren’t the be all and end all. There are other elements that a freelance copywriter can use to get their message across to the reader.

To get your copy noticed it has to stand out from the crowd. There are so many marketing messages out there today, if yours isn’t conspicuous it will fade away into the background noise. But to help get your message noticed you can use three very useful tools:

• Subheadings
• Captions
• Call outs

Sub headings

When you were a child and chose a new book to read, if you opened the page to be faced by a solid page of text, did you put it back? I know I did. Solid text is not attractive – it looks as though it’s going to be hard going and therefore is unlikely to be read.

The same goes for your copywriting. If a reader lands on your website or picks up your brochure and immediately sees row upon row of text – they ain’t gonna read it!

The use of sub headings will make your text easier to digest. They will act as little sign posts, showing your reader what information is where so they can dip in and out at their leisure. It will also generate more ‘white space’ on your page which makes it more attractive to the eye.

Captions

Captions are the short pieces of text you’ll find that accompany a graph, photo or drawing. They serve 2 purposes:

• The identify what the illustration is
• The link the illustration to your copy

Linking it to your copy helps the reader make sense of your image. For example, if the image was of someone using your product, your caption would describe to the reader what the picture was showing. If it was a chart, it would explain its meaning – such as: 85% of people asked expressed a preference to Miracle Clean compared to the leading brand.

Callouts

Call outs help you emphasis pieces of information. They are great for when you don’t want to interrupt the flow of your text. Also, if the information is so important you’ll want to draw special attention to it.

To do this you can use: bursts, callouts and sidebars.

What’s the difference?

A burst is a colourful graphic that attracts your readers’ attention to a particular point. These can be used to show a special offer or perhaps to emphasize a special feature:

A callout is a section of text, often in a different font or colour, designed to come across as a  ‘stage whisper’. They are frequently used to give customer quotes, important information, or important reminders:

A sidebar is a box of copy which is set to the side of the main text area. hese are ideal when you need to include larger sections of text without it interrupting your main body copy. They are ideal for customer testimonials, quotes, shipping details, statistical information etc.

So as you can see, a copywriter has a number of tools available to them which can be used to create interest and hype around a product.

Using these three features will compliment your text and simplify your message. The result will be a clear sales message enhanced by eye catching features which will help convince your reader to buy.

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If you’re not a copywriter but want to write some sales copy, where do you start? Well, the best place is with your reader.

Your reader will be doing the buying so make sure their needs are placed before your own. That means forget great swathes of writing about how great your company is – your reader doesn’t care – and focus on what your reader wants.

But, there’s more to writing sales copy than creating benefits orientated copy. Even the way you structure your payment offers will have an effect on the number of sales you generate. I’m not talking about a choice of payment methods (cheque, PayPal, credit cards etc.), but whether you let them try before they buy, buy now pay later etc.

6 sales boosting payment options

You need to use as many techniques as possible to get people to buy from  you. Therefore it’s important to pay attention to details. Payment options are often overlooked because people believe that readers are already committed to buy by the time they reach your call to action.

But for many readers, your payment options could be the deciding factor. Therefore I have put  together a list of 6 suggestions that will help you boost your sales.

1. Try before you buy

This shows you are so confident in your product, you want them to get a taster before committing to buy. Give them a free sample or shortened version of your product. Make sure it offers a few benefits, but of course, they’ll need the full version reap all the benefits. Being able to use your product before buying will give them the confidence to buy the real thing.

2. They choose the price

Don’t worry, I’ve not gone mad. This technique involves listing your product and price, but also offering other products at a slightly higher price. For example, a basic software package, the enhanced version and the super-dooper version. Then your readers can choose the one that’s right for them.

3. Free trial

An old one but a good one. The main thing that prevents people from buying online is confidence. There is no human interaction with online sales and that often makes people overly cautious. By offering a free trial you are showing your confidence in your product and that confidence will rub off on them too.

4. Give them something back

Cash backs are very popular. At the point of sale, show that they can obtain a 10% cash back by returning a coupon. You’ll boost your sales and, most probably, there’ll be a number of people who don’t remember to send off the coupon.

5. Buy now pay later

The ‘buy now pay later’ offer will help you hold onto those customers who may not be able to afford your product straight away. Rather than letting them go, this offer will grab them, get them to buy now and pay for your product at a specified time.

6. Drip, drip, drip

As well as the buy now pay later option, you can enhance this further with paying in instalments. It’s an offer you frequently see used by furniture companies. For many people this type of offer is very attractive.

Of course, the method you use will be determined by your products/services on offer. Why not test one or two of the above to see what difference it makes on your sales?

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Since setting out in the world of copywriting, there are two questions I am constantly asked:

1. What does a copywriter do?

2. How do you write?

The first is simple to answer. Copywriting is sales writing. It is my job to look at a business, learn about its products, services, people and ethos and convey that in benefits orientated copy that speaks to the reader.

A copywriter should not only be a good writer, they also have to be a great listener. Because you will only determine what your clients want and your readers need by talking, asking questions and listening carefully to the answers.

Keeping your writing focused can be a challenge. When ideas start to flow, it’s very easy to get carried away. Before you know it, you would have created the next best seller. To suppress the urge to be like J K Rowling, constantly remind yourself why you are writing your copy.

Kiss it better

Sales copy exists to help someone’s problem. Yes, it is also designed to sell, but you’ll be selling to people who need your product/service to solve a problem they have. They are hurting and are looking for someone to take the pain away – just like you did when you were a child. When you fell over, you’d run to your mum – she would offer kind words, disinfectant, a plaster and a kiss. Ultimately, it was the kiss that made everything better.

Before you get excited, I’m not suggesting you dash out and kiss all your readers! But your writing has to emulate it; it has to take their pain away by providing the solution they’ve been searching for. By keeping ‘the kiss’ in your mind as you write will help you keep on track.

Sometimes people may not even realise they have a problem. It’s there, but they’ve buried their heads in the sand pretending it isn’t happening to them. Therefore your copy should always refer to the problem:

Do you have enough life insurance? Are you sure? What will happen to your family when you are gone? Is there sufficient insurance to clear the mortgage, pay university fees, cover the monthly bills?

A bit extreme, but you get the picture. By juxtaposing the problem and the solution, you are adding weight to your sales pitch. Your product/service will take away this pain – act now!

So remember, when creating your copy always think about your reader, who they are, what their problem is and apply your client’s product/service as the solution to that problem.

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Psst. Come here – did you know there are millions of adverts everywhere you look? They’re on websites, in brochures, newsletters, emails…

Do you want to know how to make yours stand out?

Take a look at what your competitors are doing…and then do something completely different.

I bet if you were to study the adverts in your industry you’d see a common theme running through them. It might be in the copy, it might be in the design, it’s probably in both. The problem is you are all selling similar products and services so if you want yours to be noticed, you have to be different – you have to stand out from the crowd.

When you run a business, it becomes your life. You live and breathe it every day so it’s not surprising that you become blinkered in your marketing approach. Which is why. sometimes, it pays to get an outsider in to write your sales copy for you.

Once people realise that, my phone rings. As a freelance copywriter I can come into your business with a fresh pair of eyes. Whether I have experience in your industry is neither here nor there – in fact, having no experience is often an advantage. An outsider will look at your product or service in a totally different way and bring a fresh, unbiased approach to your sales message that eye-catching.

If your budget doesn’t allow for a copywriter to be brought in, I’ve put together a list of 10 ways you can be individual in your marketing approach:

1. Put a handwritten letter on your advert to make it stand out.
2. If you have well known and respected clients, put their names on your ads (of course, you must get their permission first) as endorsees.
3. Before and after pictures send a strong message.
4. If you’ve had an outside review or feature written about your company, use it in  your copy. This will add credibility to your advert.
5. Throw in a free bonus offer.
6. If possible, a famous name endorsing your product will always grab attention.
7. Put your own picture and contact details on your advert. This adds a personal touch.
8. Perhaps consider donating a percentage of profits to charity.
9. Use closed questions in your copy to make them think about your product and what it will do for them.
10. How about a competition. If they can find the 5 spelling mistakes in your add they can enter your free prize draw. This will keep them reading your ad and the longer they read, the more likely they are to become customers.

You don’t have to use all of the above, just one or two will make you stand out from your competitors.

Are you already using these techniques? Do you have one that works particularly well for you? If so why not leave a comment and share it with us?

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You may have spent hours putting together a pretty advert which is very informative. Great – I’m sure you’re very pleased with it, which you should be assuming you weren’t hoping to make any money from it.

But I have a feeling the main reason for going to all that trouble was to make money so you may have a problem. You’ve just blown your marketing budget on a nice piece of paper that won’t sell.

The copywriting (or sales writing) on your advert is there to perform 2 functions – it tells your reader what your product is but it must also be persuasive enough to make them buy it. Not always an easy combination to achieve.

I’ve been a freelance copywriter for a while now so I have put together 7 tips to help you make your adverts more persuasive.

1. Including a picture of yourself will add a personal touch.

2. If you have any famous or well-known clients, mention them (it will increase the want factor).

3. If your product’s passed any tests (safety, quality control etc.) write about it.

4. Include testimonials from happy clients.

5. If you’ve had articles written about your product make reference to them in your advert.

6. Make sure your website looks professional – its quality will have an effect on their opinion of your product.

7. If you offer a money back guarantee, tell them – it will show your commitment to them and increase your credibility in their eyes.

Your advert is there for one purpose only – to make your reader want your product and then convince them they need it. When you’ve achieved that the sale’s in the bag.

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